San Juan Island-size iceberg aiming for for Australia

An iceberg nearly as large as San Juan Island recently broke off of an Antarctic ice shelf drifted toward Australia, according to NASA.

“Icebergs frequently calve off Antarctica’s ice shelves, and they often get swept up in strong circumpolar currents that carry them around the icy continent. Occasionally icebergs drift northward, out of the continent’s orbit,” NASA wrote. “Only rarely, however, do icebergs drift as far north as Australia without melting, which is why scientists were surprised to spot a city-sized iceberg, desginated B17-B, drifting toward Australia in December 2009.”

The berg has recently shrunk from roughly 54 square miles (just smaller than San Juan) to 44 square miles (a little bigger than Fidalgo Island, home to Anacortes), shedding hundreds of pieces, many several miles long, according to the Australian Antarctic Division.

“(I)t’s actually moving in a more easterly direction now in line with the currents in the ocean to the south of Australia,” Australian Antarctic Division glaciologist Neal Young said on the agency’s Web site. “There are now many more smaller icebergs calving off B17B, measuring up to several kilometers in length, and spread over more than a thousand kilometers of ocean.”

While the disintegration of the iceberg makes it seem less ominous, the many smaller bits create potentially hazardous conditions for ships, The Associated Press reported.